Will Puerto Rico become a US state? Justice for 'world's oldest colony' calls grow as Dems to vote on DC statehood
As the House of Representatives prepares to vote on making Washington DC the 51st state of the United States of America, many are demanding the same for Puerto Rico, a US territory. Like the citizens of Washington, DC, by virtue of not being states, their residents have fewer rights than Americans who live in the 50 states, even as they pay federal taxes.
In Puerto Rico, American citizens cannot vote for president in the general election or elect a voting member of Congress, making it easy for congressional leaders to ignore them. Similarly, in Washington DC, citizens are denied voting representation in Congress and they can’t fully control their own laws or budgets through the local representatives that they elect. Let's compare the two movements for statehood to understand the disparity.
Washington DC's statehood movement
The history of Washington DC's statehood movement goes as far back to the United States' early years. In 1783, when unpaid Revolutionary War soldiers protested outside a building where the Continental Congress was meeting in Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania state government refused to call its militia to deal with the chaos. This led to Congress believing at the time that they needed to control the national capital. Hence, the "District Clause" in the US Constitution states, "[The Congress shall have Power] To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such District (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States."
However, Washington, DC's history of representation is also mired in racism. The ancestral home of the Nacotchtank people (Anacostans) was ceded by Maryland and Virginia to establish the District of Columbia as the nation's capital. At the time, the population was too few for it to become a state. When the population of Black Americans within DC began to grow and they won the right to vote in the elections in 1867, Congress dismantled a government that had Black representatives through new laws in 1871 and 1874 that gave the president the power to appoint DC's leaders while DC residents still did not have a say in who the president should be. The racist voting restrictions were specifically meant to suppress black political power.
The system remained in place for nearly a century and only began to change during the Civil Rights fight in the 20th century. In 1957, DC had become the country's first predominantly Black city. In 1961, the 23rd Amendment gave DC residents the right to vote for the president and the vice president. However, DC residents still remain underrepresented. Since 1964, DC has always had three electors, the lowest number possible, regardless of its population size. Residents feel the Republican party continues to block the city's aim for statehood due to its predominantly diverse population.
Many took to social media in support of making DC the US's 51st state. However, the conversation also brought in another statehood movement. One user tweeted, "There are over 700,000 Americans living in DC. Don’t they deserve representation? But since we’re here, let’s also talk about Puerto Rico." Another wrote, "If Washington DC, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands achieved statehood, the white supremacist system granting more representation to small states with white majorities would backfire and Democrats would win control of the Senate."
Puerto Rico's statehood movement
Puerto Rico's statehood movement is much more complicated than that of Washington, DC. Home of the indigenous Taíno people, Puerto Rico was colonized by Spain after the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1493. In 1898, following the Spanish–American War, the United States acquired Puerto Rico and has since remained an unincorporated territorial possession, making it the world's oldest colony.
This means that even though Puerto Rican citizens are American citizens (since 1917), they have limited representation in the United States Congress. Americans in Puerto Rico pay federal taxes, import and export taxes, federal commodity taxes and social security taxes. Puerto Ricans can also enlist in the United States' military.
However, in the case of Puerto Rico's underrepresentation, casualties follow. The island has struggled to obtain all the federal aid it says is needed to recover from hurricanes Irma and Maria, a string of strong earthquakes and the coronavirus pandemic. The Trump administration did less for Puerto Rico than the US did for Haiti after its disastrous earthquake. With no political power, Puerto Ricans are left to rely on the goodwill of American leaders, often in short supply. Puerto Rican leaders are pushing for statehood harder than ever.
Over the last century, there have been multiple referendums on whether Puerto Rico should become a state of the US. In October last year, Representative Jenniffer González-Colón, Puerto Rico’s sole non-voting member of Congress, introduced a bill that would create a path for the US territory to become the 51st state. However, the movement has been blocked by Congress before. Under González-Colón's legislation, which has some bipartisan support, a federally authorized referendum would appear on the November 2020 ballot in Puerto Rico. Approval by a majority of the island’s voters would lead to a presidential proclamation within 30 months making Puerto Rico the 51st state.
However, by virtue of Puerto Rico's status as a colony, many Puerto Ricans believe that DC's statehood movement does not apply to their home. One user tweeted, "Puerto Rico isn’t DC. Puerto Rico is a colony. Puerto Rico deserves self-determination. Stop speaking for the people of Puerto Rico." Another wrote, "No, Puerto Rico is the world's oldest colony and deserves its liberty to be its own country." Another provided an idea: "Statehood for Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands is long overdue. If the U.S. is going to continue to deny these territories statehood, I'm sure Canada would embrace them with open arms."
A user tweeted, "Do White people know that if Puerto Rico becomes a State most Puerto Ricans will be moving back to their BEAUTIFUL TROPICAL ISLAND. The reason why Ricans move to the mainland is because of JOB OPPORTUNITIES. I think by Puerto Rico becoming a State it will attract a lot of businesses."